'Escaped lioness' on the loose in Berlin

Wild animal evades capture despite all-night search in German capital

An escaped lioness was feared to be roaming Berlin's streets on Thursday morning, evading an all-night search by police.

People were told to stay indoors as dawn broke in Germany without the wild animal being located or captured.

The only lead was a smartphone video apparently showing it chasing after a wild boar, the latter common in the city.

Two men witnessed the chase and alerted police at about midnight, police spokesman Daniel Keip told broadcaster rbb.

"The two gentlemen took a smartphone video and even experienced police officers had to confirm that it was probably a lioness," he said.

"In the summer you always hear about crocodiles in bathing lakes and establish that it's just a big duck. In this case it appears to be absolutely true."

A police search was widened around Berlin's southern suburbs as the animal remained at large. AP

It was a mystery where the lioness might have escaped from, since no Berlin zoo or circus was missing a big cat.

Police were patrolling Berlin's suburbs with helicopters and thermal imaging cameras as the search area was widened around the city's southern limits, with vets also on the lookout.

People were told to keep their pets indoors as police hope to stun the animal and bring it back into captivity.

But police conceded on social media at 7am that "the escaped wild animal has NOT yet been found".

It is not the first time Germans have been told to be on the lookout for wild animals on the loose. In May, people in Erfurt were jolted by the sight of a kangaroo hopping across a busy road.

In 2019, it took several days for a deadly cobra to be recaptured in the western town of Herne. In 2016 a lion had to be shot dead after it escaped from an enclosure in Leipzig.